NBC Fires Matt Lauer

Then he should say what isn’t true.

It shouldn’t be hard.

 

Lawyers.

 

Is Lauer the biggest name to date? I'd say yes because of his profile and reach, his four day a week presence on the highest rated morning show.

Harvey Weinstein held more power in Hollywood, but who really, really knew what he even looked like before his scandal broke?
Louis CK? Probably known to less than a third of those who know Lauer.
Kevin Spacey? About the same as Louis CK.
Ben Affleck? Now you're getting close.

But, really, who is bigger than Lauer? Nobody. Yet.

 

On the Tim Russert RIP thread here it was asked which other media member’s sudden passing would draw a similar outpouring. My answer was Lauer.

 

Anchors are far and away the biggest reason why people watch one show over another. There are other factors but they don't come close.

This is going to be very expensive for "Today." And the suits at GMA are throwing a party.

 

Brokaw. Unlike Rather, he did not have a series of screwups or left turns that made people dismiss him after a long career.

 

Then why do you think he was getting 25 million?

 

Those guys are already old, though, out of the public eye, and expected to die. Different kind of outpouring.

We are also supposed to include Rather’s CV when discussing his missteps, per SJ.com style.

 

I'm curious to see how this all shakes out. If they don't replace Lauer in any way for a couple weeks, I could see a scenario where curiosity from people wanting to look at how the show handles it leads to increased ratings. Obviously much different circumstances, but I think Leno got ratings boosts from Bobcat burning his desk and Hugh Grant. I've actually enjoyed the Hoda-Savannah duo for the past two days - Even though I generally liked Lauer's on-air performance, he was kind of the grumpy foil to the other people on the show.

 

Am I the only person here who has never watched a second of The Today Show?

 

The money has to go somewhere. If the stars know the show is making $400M a year for NBC, they're going to demand a good chunk of that money. But when it comes to "who deserves what for success," I imagine the equation on that is really hard to prove. Like, Cheers seemingly went from Shelley Long to Kristie Alley without missing a beat. The Today Show itself has cycled through anchors with and without success.

 

When it happened to Ailes and O’Reilly is was a conspiracy against conservatives. When it happened to Cosby is was racism.

Apologies?